I'm going the way of Rshak and Elizabeth. After trying everything over the years, I prefer to keep my LPs in the "200 LP" carpeted crates from Odyssey or Grundorf. Expensive, yes, but american-made, of uniform size, and with the recessed hardware very portable (by two people when full...). This does limit the size of my collection, which is good. At the crossroads last week, I figured I needed two more to house the stuff that sits out on the shelves but that I have removed repeatedly from the "take to the used record buyer" shelf. I split the difference and bought one more, leaving about 150 without storage. I'm now listening to those, and will know if I need to keep them. If I get rid of the second or third copies of things I consider essential, my troubles are over, but I hold onto these in case I ever need to get somebody hooked on the hobby. Now my confession: I keep thinking that if I got down to 700 titles, total, that I could listen to two sides per day and never hear the same thing for two years. Something about this seems very attractive to me, and no, I have not lost interest in vinyl, just the opposite-- I just want each experience to have maximum impact for the trouble I go through. "Beware the man who owns only one gun." I can always keep one crate next to the 16.5 for unexplored thrift store finds.
LP records: Time to... oi... buy another crate...?
OK, I'm not asking you what I should do, I'm asking what you did and, in retrospect, what you think about it. I was doing my annual assessment of my LP collection this winter, running cleaning fluid through the VPI 16.5, listening, and deciding what "VG" copy needs to be upgraded to a "NM" and what holes still need to be filled. I've never considered myself a "collector" and have attempted to "collect" only what I wish to listen to. I'm now at a crux: I've just about exceeded the "magic number" of LPs that I can reasonably expect to enjoy if blessed with a normal lifespan. I'll be one of those old guys, God bless 'em, whose survivors give his collection away to anybody who will take that pile of non-digital whatever.
For my sanity, I need to decide before Springtime whether to keep upgrading or housing multiple copies of stuff I really like (Do I need two copies of my favorites, just in case? How many versions of Quatour pour la fin du temps do I need? Do I really need mono and stereo versions of all my favorite 1958-1967 stuff? Should I upgrade my later Blue Note "player" pressings to early presses and/or 45RPM remasters? Will I really enjoy critically listening to six early copies of Aja one evening to determine which one is the "keeper?"), or just listen to what I have, get rid of what I don't think I'll play, and buy a new release now and then. I think I need to do this because managing the "collection" is now probably preventing me from enjoying it. I'm tempted to visit some of the local used bargain bin sellers with a stack for each, take whatever they offer me, and let somebody else make some lucky finds.
I'm not asking for advice or counseling, I just want to hear from those of you who also reached this point, which way you went, and how much enjoyment you get out of whatever you decided to do. If you decided to radically downsize and listen to everything you have, to "use it or lose it," how many did you keep? Do you miss any, or do you enjoy the remainder all the more? Thanks in advance for your thoughts.
For my sanity, I need to decide before Springtime whether to keep upgrading or housing multiple copies of stuff I really like (Do I need two copies of my favorites, just in case? How many versions of Quatour pour la fin du temps do I need? Do I really need mono and stereo versions of all my favorite 1958-1967 stuff? Should I upgrade my later Blue Note "player" pressings to early presses and/or 45RPM remasters? Will I really enjoy critically listening to six early copies of Aja one evening to determine which one is the "keeper?"), or just listen to what I have, get rid of what I don't think I'll play, and buy a new release now and then. I think I need to do this because managing the "collection" is now probably preventing me from enjoying it. I'm tempted to visit some of the local used bargain bin sellers with a stack for each, take whatever they offer me, and let somebody else make some lucky finds.
I'm not asking for advice or counseling, I just want to hear from those of you who also reached this point, which way you went, and how much enjoyment you get out of whatever you decided to do. If you decided to radically downsize and listen to everything you have, to "use it or lose it," how many did you keep? Do you miss any, or do you enjoy the remainder all the more? Thanks in advance for your thoughts.
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